Abstract
Social sustainability includes aspects of equity and is associated with two of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals focused on promoting good health and well-being for all ages. Yet, this pillar of sustainability is considered the least understood, as compared to economic and environmental components. To address this, our study focused on intergenerational engagement within residential neighborhood parks to foster social sustainability and encourage healthy and active living. This study included an intercept survey with open-ended questions of 386 adult park users within 12 parks in South-East Queensland, one of Australia’s fastest-growing areas. Approximately two-thirds (68%) of adult participants visited the park with one or more children, primarily to use the playground. Further thematic analysis shows that intergenerational interactions predominantly include adults playing with or teaching children. However, intergenerational interactions were limited in numerous situations, such as when adults accompany older children. This paper concludes with a discussion on potential ways to increase intergenerational interactions in parks to promote health and well-being for all ages, thus increasing social sustainability within residential developments.
Highlights
We investigated the type of intergenerational interactions that currently occur within public suburban parks, as well as the park areas that afford these interactions
This is in alignment with Moore and Cosco’s findings, where they found generous pathways linking different elements and areas within a neighborhood playground supported easy and active use by children and their carers [39]. This indicates that, when these park features are designed to promote these affordances, public parks within residential neighborhoods can provide valuable opportunities for intergenerational engagement to contribute to social sustainability
These results suggest that the amount of intergenerational interaction that occurs at the park varies across the visit
Summary
Social sustainability, which is the process of promoting, supporting, and maintaining positive relationships between people, is essential for building relationships, mutual learning, and improving well-being [1]. It is associated with the United Nations Sustainable Development goals focused on promoting good health and well-being for all ages. People develop relationships with others through belongingness and proximity, such as through shared activities, goals, experiences, and culture [3,4]. These relationships are important building blocks for sustainable neighborhoods and places. Social sustainability promotes wellbeing within communities, “by understanding what people need from the places they live and work” and “combines the design of the physical realm with design of the social world—infrastructure to support social and cultural life, social amenities, systems for citizen engagement, and space for people and places to evolve” [5]
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